And as Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, pointed out in a recent interview, the inclusion of medical debt on a credit report also has the potential to harm people looking for a job. With unemployment still high, a company might opt not to hire a person whose credit report indicates a possible health problem."

They shouldn't be looking at people's credit reports without their permission. This is damaging. Do you all realize that if you were to apply for a loan of any kind or need to move to a new apt. and fill out a credit app and it comes back with several check against it, a: it lowers your score, b: unless you give permission, they cannot legally do it. Just more illegalities thrust upon the unemployed, discrimination being the number 1.

I do not understand why the HIPAA laws do not prevent employers from seeing any medical debt on one's credit report. Employer-run credit reports are only outlawed in a few states. This practice must be banned on the national level.